morphospecies

M3O1R1P3H4O1S1P3E1C3I1E1S1

noun

A species distinguished from others only by its morphology.

OriginEnglish species ← Ancient Greek μορφή (morphḗ) →
Scrabble 24
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Meanings

nounmorphospecies (plural morphospecies)
  1. biologyA species distinguished from others only by its morphology.

    Their approach is to sort specimens based on their major morphological characteristics, rather than their strict taxonomy. They named this type of pseudotaxonomy the morphospecies approach.

    2002, Andrew S. Pullin, Conservation Biology, page 160

Origin

  1. Ancient Greekμορφή (morphḗ)
  2. Englishmorpho-
  3. Englishspecies
  4. Englishmorphospecies

From morpho- + species.

Full word history & related roots →
Cite this entry
APA

morphospecies. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morphospecies

MLA

“morphospecies.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morphospecies. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “morphospecies,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/morphospecies.

Source: morphospecies on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.